Numerous founds of Etruscan civilization have come to light in
the vast zone to the north of the Arno between the Sieve and Ombrone rivers. The so-called
"Fiesole stelae" date back as far as the late 6th
century B.C. However finds from the Villanovan culture of the
early iron age and the age of copper and of bronze have also been
unearthed. The Etruscan settlement of Fiesole was probably the
center of a zone where settlements were scattered over the
hillsides which overlook the Florentine basin. Remains from this
period include various stretches of the powerful
city
wall and the ruins of a
Temple with two
wings and two columns in the pronaos. Since some of the walls are
still intact it can be considered as one of the most important
examples of this kind in all of Etruria. A considerable number of
interesting finds from the Etruscan period - urns, bucchero, clay
and bronze statues - together with other objects from Roman times
are to be found in the
Museum near the
archaeological zone. Invaded by the Gauls in 225 B.C. and
captured by Marcus Porcius Cato in 90 B.C., it was occupied by
Silla in 80 B.C. and turned into a military colony. This was when
Fiesole became a Roman city (Faesulae) with a forum, temples,
theater, baths. The
Theater, which is still well
preserved, is sometimes used for spectacles of classic theater and
has a capacity of about 3.000 people. It dates to the beginning of
the imperial age and was improved in
the period of Claudius and of Septimius Severus. The Baths too
belong to the early empire and were remodelled by Hadrian.
In republican times (1st cent. B.C.) the
Temple,
originally Etruscan was rebuilt. an explanation for the
prosperity of Etruscan and Roman Fiesole is to be found in its
fortunate geographical site near a ford over the arno - close to
where Florentia was to rise. The territory of the Roman
Municipium of Fiesole must have extended prevalently to the north
of the Arno while the territory of the "colonia" of
Florence must have lain above all to the south of the river.
Occupied by the Ostrogoths and the Byzantines, Fiesole from the
6th century on was the site of a Lombard settlement as documented
by the remains of a necropolis. In 1125, after military
compaigns, Florence wiped out the city forcing it into submission
and destroyng part of the centuries-old city walls.
